Tag: savannah GA | Amy C. Shaw

Fave Five: Things in Savannah, GA

December 23, 2017 • 2 Comments

I meant to write this post detailing my trip to Savannah months ago, so I apologize this post probably won’t be as detailed as it could have been.

I wanted to touch on five categories from the trip and highlight my favorite of each, sometimes providing a second opinion as well.

Fave Meal

I know that 95% of the reason why my fave meal is my fave meal is because it just really hit the particular spot my very hungry belly needed at the time, but isn’t that the point of good food anyhow? My favorite meal was lunch from a place called J. Christopher’s. It’s a breakfast and lunch place only, and I would really love to go back for breakfast one day (because Oreo pancakes… or was it waffles?… hello…). The inside was so Savannah: colorful and artsy. Anyhow, I had a grilled chicken sandwich, which I know doesn’t sound exciting, but trust me, it was perfect.

Second opinion: My second favorite meal was tacos from Tequila’s Town, and my husband’s favorite meal was his burger at Savannah Taphouse. I think this could have been a favorite place for me too if I had ordered something else (why do I always want to try everyone’s BBQ when I know 9/10 of the times I will be disappointed?).

Fave Dessert

If you do any research on Savannah you will see a lot of fuss about Leopold’s Ice Cream and the place is legit. I will admit I still love Jeni’s the best, but Leopold’s was very good for sure. It’s next to the SCAD theater and inside there is all sorts of movie memorabilia, while still maintaining that old fashioned soda shop feel. We got our ice creams in a bowl to eat there and they were in the old fashioned glasses like you picture old timey milkshakes to be in. I had the dark chocolate but would like to check out some of the other flavors too. Definitely worth checking out.

Second opinion: My husband enjoyed our S’mores cheesecake from Lulu’s Chocolate Bar the best. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more chocolately things overall and felt I settled on the cheesecake (and believe me, I am all about the S’mores cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, this one was much more simplistic, which isn’t bad, but didn’t work for me ultimately). Also, I wasn’t expecting this place to feel so much like a sit-down place, considering it’s desserts and drinks, but it did.

Fave Attraction

My favorite attraction was such an unexpected surprise, a little place called the Webb Military Museum. This place was small in size but huge in quality. I had seen it come up in my research, but wasn’t really planning to go. Then after my husband and I did the Old Towne Trolley Tour (which I would also recommend), he was interested in this place that our driver had pointed out. He was a vet and highly recommended it, and I’m so glad we followed his rec. It feels very personal… this one guy who just loves history curated everything and had stories about several of the pieces, and there were some really unique things in there, such as the coat of a Nazi officer stationed in Siberia (which I actually got to hold and it was HEAVY to say the least). I can’t say enough good things about this museum… If you have interest in war history especially, this is a place you have to go to in Savannah.

Fave Bookstore

I won’t elaborate more than my previous post where I raved about E. Shearer. THE PLACE HAS BOOKSTORE KITTIES. I adored it.

Fave Coffee (judged by my husband… since I don’t drink coffee)

From hipster coffee to Starbucks coffee, my husband got his caffeine fix from a different place every day of our trip, and he said his favorite was from Mirabelle Cafe. We went to this place for brunch because the waffles sounded amazing and the outside of it my total aesthetic, but unfortunately it didn’t really do it for me. But if you love yourself some black coffee, grab some from there, and don’t miss the crazy beautiful church across the street, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (HOLY WOW is all I can say).

What also made this trip really special was we got to see a couple of friends who live in a nearby town and their little girls. We don’t get to see them often so it was a treat to see them and to have them show us around some. They gave us the lowdown on The Squares, Brighton Street, River Street, and other fun things locals understand best. And since we got to stay in an apartment in a beautiful old historic home, it really was almost like living there for a week. Needless to say, the trip was great and I hope to go back and explore Savannah again one day.

Have you ever been to Savannah, GA? What’s a city you got to explore this year?

Monthly Recap: September

October 12, 2017 • 4 Comments

I hate how late this recap is! I’ll try to do better next month…

Books I Read

Finished my reread of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

A Dash of Dragon by Heidi Lang and Kat Bartkowski

#bookstagram Images of the Month

Watched

Sing (cute), The Secret Life of Pets (forgettable), and Wonder Woman (finally, I know – I really enjoyed it but maybe not quite as much as everyone else).

September Happenings

I went on vacation in Savannah (the week after Irma hit)! I still want to talk more about this in a future post, but you can read my thoughts on two of the city’s bookstores here and just know that I really enjoyed my time there! It’s such a beautiful city.

My birthday! I turned 31 and it wasn’t even too painful, ha ha. It was a good one, with several celebratory dinners around it.

I attended the SCBWI Midsouth Conference for the fourth (I think?) year in a row, and it was such an enriching experience, as usual. But it didn’t start out roses and rainbows.

For the first time, I paid for a critique from an editor. You can do face-to-face or written, and I chose the latter. I submitted the first ten pages of the WIP I have been pouring into pretty much since my first SCBWI conference, and had recently revised due to feedback from various CPs. I thought it was in pretty good shape and was hoping for some constructive criticism. While the feedback I got back from the editor wasn’t flat out negative, it wasn’t very positive either. I understood some of what she was saying, but some of it was clear she just wasn’t getting the story. Whether that was my fault or not, I don’t know, but that was the reality.

But I immersed myself in the conference and didn’t worry too much about the critique. Then came time for our optional critique group, which is where you’re assigned to a group to critique a few pages of each other’s work. Between getting the paid critique and just already getting a lot of feedback on Earthbound, I decided to share the beginnings of a new story I just recently started working on and haven’t even completed a draft of yet. The response from those in my group was so positive that it really kind of blew me away, and definitely encouraged me. I could feel in my soul what my next course of action was – shelve Earthbound for now, give it time to simmer, and focus all my efforts on my new project.

So I’m excited! It can be hard to move on from something you’ve spent so much time on, but I honestly feel really liberated. Earthbound would be a hard sell for a debut author; this new contemporary is much easier to grasp onto. If I can write it as well as I believe I can, I believe getting an agent with it will be very possible. And here’s hoping that I can bring Earthbound back out one day, once I have that trust in place. My goal is to have my first draft of Love and Sax finished by the end of the year.

Also, these ladies are my writing lifeline!

Looking forward to in October…

Needtobreathe concert! I get to see my other favorite band this month and I cannot wait!

How was your September?

Bookstore Tourist: Savannah, GA

September 25, 2017 • 4 Comments

I recently got back from a lovely trip to Savannah, GA, and just had to share about the two indie bookstores I went to there.

The Book Lady

Imagine a large library collection in an old house that spills over onto the floor and into multiple rooms, and you’ll have an idea of what The Book Lady feels like. There’s a mix of used gems and new books, as well as a small (secured) section of rare and special books. When my husband saw a hardback copy of Jumanji and wondered out loud what made it special or rare, the guy at the store unlocked the case and showed us the author’s signature inside. If you’re a big fan of rummaging to find that perfect book, this is a place you’ve got to check out.

E Shaver

I enjoyed The Book Lady, but I absolutely adored E Shaver. I’m sure their bookstore kitties helped with that. 🙂 (The Book Lady does have bookstore dogs, but they were off-duty when we were there.) There were so many gorgeous covers I had never seen before for books I already own and really don’t need another copy of (#bookworm probs) and some other fun things there as well.